Delhi Elections 2020: QR Codes To Play Important Role In Voting

QR codes or Quick Response code have eased accessing information in today's world. Most products and services have a QR code attached, where scanning it reveals related information. It could be anything from tracking public transport, information about food ingredients, or as simple as a link to a website. Now, the Delhi elections will use QR code as part of the election process.

QR Codes For Delhi Election

Delhi will soon be holding a single-phase election. The Election Commission declared February 8 as the election date. Keeping politics aside, the upcoming Delhi elections will be the first to introduce QR code on the voter slip. Delhi will be the first state/union territory to have QR codes to facilitate voters and speed up their identification.

Earlier, there were specific machines that could read the two-dimensional bar code. But today, QR codes can be scanned on smartphones. The Election Commission is hoping to tap into this resource and will allow voters to carry their smartphones to the polling station.

How Will QR Code Work

"This latest technological innovation will make the poll process fast through use of QR (Quick Response) Code reading for voter slips of electors," a senior election official said in a statement. The voter slips will include a QR code that will enable faster identification of the voter. Plus, booth app will provide the number of voters waiting in the queue at a particular station.

Additionally, the app will provide real-time updates about the voter's turn out in the city. In case a voter forgets to bring his voter's slip, he can download his QR code from the voters' helpline app. The QR code will be scanned at the polling station to identify the voters, after which, they will be allowed to cast their votes.

The voters, however, will need to deposit their smartphones once the QR code is scanned at the polling booth. According to the Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, polling stations will have locker facilities to house the smartphones.

The final electoral list shows there are roughly 1.46 crores voters for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. There will be 90,000 officials deployed at the polling stations in Delhi to ease a smooth exercise of voting.